imac g5 turning off/running hard

[rj_ct]

hey, sorry if this is posted in the wrong spot.

well, the title pretty much says it all. my 2005 imac is turning off randomly. i just got it back from my local apple store and they fixed a glitch with my graphics card. before i took it there i had no video and the fans would run really hard. it now seems to boot up normally, and works fine for anywhere between 20 mins- to an hour and a half.

usually when it shuts off, everything seems to be running really hard and fast. when i opened it up last night everything was hot. however, sometimes it will shut off even when things appear to be running normally. i have finals and papers due all week, and really need to fix this problem asap. i hope you understand why i'm hesitant to bring it back to the store i just brought it to. any help would be greatly appreciated.

thanks,
rj

 

[Walrus666]

hey, sorry if this is posted in the wrong spot.

well, the title pretty much says it all. my 2005 imac is turning off randomly. i just got it back from my local apple store and they fixed a glitch with my graphics card. before i took it there i had no video and the fans would run really hard. it now seems to boot up normally, and works fine for anywhere between 20 mins- to an hour and a half.

usually when it shuts off, everything seems to be running really hard and fast. when i opened it up last night everything was hot. however, sometimes it will shut off even when things appear to be running normally. i have finals and papers due all week, and really need to fix this problem asap. i hope you understand why i'm hesitant to bring it back to the store i just brought it to. any help would be greatly appreciated.

thanks,
rj

Assuming that your graphics card is working properly now, it could be a number of things. The first thing that comes to mind is bad RAM.

 

[rj_ct]

good looking out. i don't thing it's bad ram. i wonder if there's still something wrong with the graphics card.

anyone else?

 

[Egidio]

Also think it's bad RAM. One thing you can do is start your Mac from the original disk and run Disk Utility to verify your disk.

 

[Walrus666]

It could be a number of things. The first things that I would check are all of the connections. Secondly, the RAM.
Here's a free app that checks out your RAM just in case-
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/24508

 

[one01]

If your graphics card is over heating the computer will shut down when the inside of the case gets too hot. My G5 iMac was doing this on a weekly basis but I bought a small desk fan and placed it behind the monitor (pointing directly at the back of the case) This kept the machine cool enough that the desk fan kept the internal fan from firing up (which sounded like a jet engine) and i never saw the shut down issue again and it runs much quieter now.

 

[rj_ct]

thanks, one01, i'm gonna try that for the time being. it does sound that is what is happening. unfortunately it's cold as all hell in albany, ny right now, but i'll deal with it. if i can just get it through the next few days, i'll have more time to deal with the problem in the right way.

thanks again everyone.

edit- and it wasn't bad ram, but i appreciate the input all the same.